Seaborne coking coal prices stayed large stable in both the cfr and fob market on Wednesday July 21 because buying interest is weak facing the elevated offers, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $211.08 per tonne, down $0.19 per tonnePremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $309.31 per tonne, up $0.20 per tonne Hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $178.42 pe...Read More

RAPAPORT... Costco Wholesale and Tiffany & Co. have finally laid to rest an eight-year legal dispute over alleged trademark infringement and counterfeiting."The parties have amicably resolved their dispute," Costco's attorney, David Bernstein, told Rapaport News Tuesday. Bernstein declined to provide any further details of the settlement, which was dismissed with prejudice July 19. That means...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers has appointed C?(C)line Assimon as head of both De Beers Jewellers and De Beers Forevermark, furthering the company's efforts to streamline its retail activities.Assimon, who joined as CEO of De Beers Jewellers last September, will take on the same role at Forevermark, De Beers said Wednesday. She will succeed Nancy Liu on September 5.The merging of the two positions foll...Read More

RAPAPORT... The board of the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) has elected Arnon Juwal as its third chairman in three years.The IDI, which works to promote the country's diamond sector, tapped Juwal to serve a three-year term following Yoram Dvash's resignation last week, it said Tuesday. Dvash took over the role in November after Boaz Moldawsky, who started in 2019, left to head the Israel Diamond E...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) has identified a laboratory-grown ruby filled with lead glass - a rare phenomenon, as the trade mostly uses this method to improve natural stones.The transparent to semitransparent, oval mixed-cut piece weighing 3.53 carats was submitted to the GIA's lab in Carlsbad, California. Examination under a microscope showed it contained a network...Read More

RAPAPORT... Swiss watch exports exceeded pre-pandemic levels in June amid a recovery in the US and China and strong demand for high-priced timepieces.Global shipments rose 13% compared to the same month of 2019, reaching CHF 1.96 billion ($2.14 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Tuesday. Exports jumped 71% year on year, reflecting a favorable comparison with the Covid-19 dow...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap market reported no new trading activity on Wednesday July 21, because of the week-long Eid al-Adha public holiday.Turkish steel mils have not booked any new scrap material since July 13.The country is currently off work for the week-long religious holiday of...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The initial offering of the world's first fungible diamond commodity offering - a sealed plastic coin of around 4.5 carats - was 50 per cent over-subscribed, says the company that launched them.New York-based Diamond Standard says it has sold the first batch of 5,000 coins to investors, and will now make a further $50m of coins available.Each coin (pictured) contains "a set of...Read More

Sales of watches and jewelry in the US during May were up a third on the same month in pre-Covid 2019. Year-on-year they more than doubled, by 106.9 per cent, but that figure needs to be treated with caution. The actual dollar spend for May 2021 was $115.1m, compared with $52.7m in 2020 and $76.3m in 2019, before the pandemic. Sales for May 2021 are up 33.7 per cent on May 2019. April 2021 showed...Read More

Steel rebar prices in northern Europe edged up in the week to Wednesday July 21 despite a seasonal slowdown in buying activity, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was ?,?890-930 ($1,049-1,096) per tonne on July 21, up from ?,?880-930 per tonne. This marks its highest level since Fastmarkets start...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Antwerp's rough trade was up by 11 per cent in the first half of this year to $10.4bn, compared with same period in pre-Covid 2019.The polished trade is "lagging behind" - at $7.4bn for H1 2021 - hit by the compete lack of trade shows and India's devastating third wave of coronavirus.But the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said it was showing signs of recovery, with t...Read More

China's electricity system is particularly stretched this summer, so aluminium, zinc and lead smelters have received repeated notices for several weeks that they should restrict power use, and many are not still seeing an end to the situation, Fastmarkets has learnt."Power consumption limits will be a recurring issue for Chinese smelters, [and] not only for summer. [They are] likely to be extended...Read More

Dwindling spot supply of rounded forms of nickel in the United States sent the US briquette premium to an all-time high in Fastmarkets' assessments. Fastmarkets began assessments by shape, rather than grade, in March 2018.Strong global briquette demand, reduced spot supply to the US, and "spiraling" ocean freight costs are all boosting premiums for the form, now said to  barely be found in th...Read More

European lead smelter Berzelius Metall has declared force majeure on supply contracts after floods that have caused chaos in northern Germany and Belgium forced the closure of its Stolberg smelter.Fastmarkets' calls to Berzelius were not answered, while an email to parent company EcoBat Technologies was not responded to by the time of publication.But sources in the lead market confirmed to Fa...Read More

The Australian-listed explorer has three 100%-owned projects, mainly covering copper, zinc and gold, as well as two partner-managed projects covering zinc, lead and gold.A recent zinc-lead discovery at the Earaheedy project in Western Australia, in which Zenith holds a 25% interest, was the catalyst for a doubling of Zenith's market cap to its current level of around A$80 million ($60 million).Ass...Read More

In its June quarter production figures, which were broadly in line with market expectations, Antofagasta said rainfall at Los Pelambres, located in Chile's Coquimbo region, 240 km north-east ofRead More

Premiums for copper cathodes in Shanghai's bonded zone traded in the week to Tuesday July 20 at their highest levels since May, while market sources in the United States speculated about possible rises.Premiums in Shanghai rise on strong domestic marketFresh pandemic concerns damp Southeast Asia demandUS premiums steady at high levels.China premium rebounds stronglyChina's import appetite for copp...Read More

The first hole, collared about 1,300m east of its Warintza Central target was drilled to 1,213m with the first 320m of core from surface assaying 320m grading 0.36% copper, 0.02% molybdenum and 0.Read More

London-listed Chilean copper miner Antofagasta maintained its annual guidance of 730,000-760,000 tonnes of copper production for 2021, despite output dipping in the second quarter.The company warned that drought conditions at its Los Pelambres mine are the worst than they have been for 12-years, and that guidance could be impacted unless rain returns.In brief: Antofagasta's copper production was 1...Read More

Premiums for nickel products in China and the United States rose in the week to Tuesday July 20 amid improved arbitrage terms and tight supply. The European premium was unchanged amid stable demand, but the outlook for the market is positive.Improved arbitrage in China stimulates sentimentSpot supply shortage pushes up US premiumEuropean market flat, but outlook is bullishArbitrage opportunities p...Read More